The temporary pier that the U.S. military constructed and put in place to provide much-needed humanitarian aid for Gaza has broken apart in rough seas, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
The latest calamity to befall the pier endeavor punctuated a particularly grim several days in Gaza, where Israeli forces have ramped up attacks on the city of Rafah just two days after carrying out a deadly strike that killed dozens of people.
. . .
Army engineers are working to put the pier back together and Defense Department officials hope that it “will be fully operational in just a little over a week,” she said.
They did say it would be temporary…
For just $320 million what do you expect? If only Gaza weren’t surrounded by water on all sides. Then we could just truck aid in.
If only the United States military specialized in amphibious logistic vehicles…
Here is some fan fiction about what that might look like…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_Craft_Air_Cushion
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship-to-Shore_Connector
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Navy_amphibious_warfare_ships
But that would mean our sailors would be within shooting distance of Gaza!
That’s their job, go where the mission is.
But but there might be…
Danger!Hazardous Duty Pay!Nobody authorized that.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The temporary pier that the U.S. military constructed and put in place to provide much-needed humanitarian aid for Gaza has broken apart in rough seas, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, we had a perfect storm of high sea states, and then, as I mentioned, this North African weather system also came in at the same time, creating not an optimal environment to operate,” Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon deputy press secretary, said at a news conference.
Army engineers are working to put the pier back together and Defense Department officials hope that it “will be fully operational in just a little over a week,” she said.
In early March, President Biden surprised the Pentagon by announcing that the U.S. military would build a pier for Gaza.
On Saturday, heavy seas forced two small American military vessels that were part of the pier operation to beach in Israel.
On Sunday, part of the pier broke off completely, including a wider parking area for dropping off supplies transported by ship, officials said.
The original article contains 427 words, the summary contains 170 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Hit by a wave? At sea? Chance in a million.